


The Price of Honor

by JeanGraham



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 05:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20719202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanGraham/pseuds/JeanGraham
Summary: Sub-commander Tal seeks revenge on Spock.





	The Price of Honor

The Price of Honor

* * *

  
by Jean Graham

It was only by chance that Ayn Trent happened to be on the bridge when the call from the surface came through. She'd gone up to discuss an engineering problem with Lt. Commander Scott, and had been only marginally aware that some hours ago, Captain Kirk and a small landing party had beamed down to Korus under yellow alert conditions. There was a report, unconfirmed, that a Romulan spy ship had crashed here, on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone. It should have been easy enough to determine, for Korus was an uninhabited planet. But the ship's sensors had detected no life, leaving them with three possibilities: the report was false, the crash had left no survivors -- or the Romulans cloaking device was still very much intact and operating.

The latter contingency proved to be true.

The voice that signaled the Enterprise from Korus was not Kirk's. Nor did it belong to any of the security team members who'd  
accompanied him to the surface. Uhura transferred the call to Spock's intercom on the arm of the captain's chair, and the bridge personnel held a collective breath.

"You are the Vulcan called Spock?"

The first officer raised an eyebrow at the insolence -- and the vague familiarity -- of the voice. "This is Spock, he replied.  
"Identify yourself, please."

Without warning, the view screen image of Korus' rotating globe dissolved into a setting Spock recognized. It was the bridge of a Romulan bird of prey. And the man in the commander's chair was one he also recognized: a Romulan he had once known as Subcommander Tal.

"Commander Tal of the Flagship Thrysn," the face on the screen informed him acidly. "I am pleased indeed to have encountered you again. Thus the gods have granted my revenge." Emphasizing the final word, he pressed a control that widened the Enterprise's view of the Romulan bridge. Gasps escaped several of the observers, including Ayn. Standing to Tal's immediate left, a Romulan centurion held a semi-conscious James Kirk with a Federation phaser pressed to his temple. Two more centurions held the four Enterprise security men at phaser point just behind them. It was apparent from the cuts and bruises on his face that Kirk had not been captured without a struggle.

"My ship is grounded," Tal said to the camera pick-up. "Disabled. I require yours. As you see, I have something of value with which to bargain. Therefore you will begin abandonment procedures at once, beaming all ship's personnel to the surface except the minimal crew required to operate the Enterprise. No more than seven. And no tricks. I will execute one prisoner per Terran hour for every hour you delay in carrying out this order. Am I understood, Commander?"

Spock studied his adversary for a long moment before responding. "An evacuation procedure will require time, Commander Tal."

"You have one hour. If the first landing parties have not arrived by then, the first execution will be carried out."

Beside Tal, Kirk stirred, lifted his head. "Spock," he murmured. "Take the ship--"

The centurion guard struck him with the butt of the phaser. Kirk slumped, and was permitted to fall to the deck.

"One hour, Spock." Tal broke the circuit.

Dr. McCoy, who had come onto the bridge in the midst of the transmission, was the first to break the stunned silence that  
followed it. He said simply, "My God."

Spock ignored him. "Mr. Scott," he queried, "what is the probability the Enterprise phasers on stun force might penetrate  
the Romulan screens?"

Scott consulted his viewer, pressing several controls before answering. "Their remaining systems are operating on auxiliary  
power," he reported. "And the shields are at fifty percent capacity. They don't function effectively in an atmosphere."

"The probability, Mr. Scott?"

The chief engineer cocked his head at an angle. "The computer gives it sixty-four point seven percent. If I can give the phasers  
a bit of a boost, we may add one or two percentage points.

"And you may get them all killed," McCoy protested.

"We have very few alternatives, Doctor," Spock said flatly.

"Sir," Ayn interjected, "if I may... It should be possible to effectively neutralize the Romulan shields with a single burst of  
concentrated phaser fire. The interaction of the planet's atmosphere--"

"Ach," Scott interrupted. "I should ha' thought of that. The lass is right. It could work."

The Vulcan first officer weighed the possibilities, considering carefully. "Very well," he said at length. "Lt. Uhura, you will  
begin forming evacuation parties in the event they become necessary. Mr. Scott, please relay data for the neutralizing beam  
to Mr. Chekov. It is essential that stun force phasers follow immediately upon dissolution of the screen. Should the Romulans  
have time to realize what is happening... "

  
"Aye, Mr. Spock. No room for error."

Some minutes later, a bolt of fiery electric blue streaked planetward from the massive hull of the Enterprise. On the  
windswept surface of Korus, it struck the invisible edge of the force field enveloping the downed bird of prey, defining the screen in brilliant blue. By Ayn and Scott's calculations, the planet's nitrogen-rich atmosphere should then have interacted to dissipate the energy of the field. Their theory, as it happened, was sound, but the Enterprise engineers had no way to know that a newly-developed sensor unit aboard the Romulan flagship, detecting the energy flux of the approaching phaser bolt, had diverted emergency power to the crippled shields and strengthened their protective capability.

The force field held.

Seconds after Spock had ordered the ineffectual phaser fire discontinued, Uhura responded to another signal from the flagship  
Thrysn.

"It's Tal, sir," she said unsteadily. "He's requesting visual."

McCoy, from behind Spock, said quietly, "Now you've done it."

"A calculated risk, Doctor."

"Yes, Mr. Spock. One that failed."

The Vulcan signalled Uhura to activate the view screen. Tal's angry face replaced the stars.

"I should perhaps have anticipated your treachery," he seethed. "It is, after all, no less than you have demonstrated in the past.  
You force my hand, Vulcan."

Tal widened the view again, this time revealing only one centurion beside him, with one of the Enterprise securities. While the  
bridge crew watched in horror, the human was shoved savagely toward the camera. A split second later, he was struck from behind by the yellow corona of a phaser bolt. Enveloped in golden fire, he dissolved into atoms of light and was gone.

"That was the first example," Tal said to a stunned audience. "In one hour there will be another. Unless you comply. Consider the consequences, Vulcan." Abruptly then, he cut the transmission once again.

"It's my fault, " Ayn whispered to Scott. She was very near to abandoning protocol and breaking into tears. "If I hadn't  
suggested..."

"Your theory was quite sound," Spock said to her, overhearing. "The responsibility for what action was taken, however, is mine.  
You have no basis for guilt."

"Maybe not," McCoy put in. "But Tal has a score to settle with you, Spock. You disgraced his commander. Probably cost her her  
command. He's nursing a grudge against you big enough to drive a starship through."

"That has little bearing on the problem at hand, Doctor."

"Doesn't it? Revenge is a relentless master, Mr. Spock. It means that this Romulan will stop short of nothing to get even with you.You destroyed his superior -- now he intends to destroy yours. Or die trying."

Spock considered that. The emotional motivations of hatred and revenge were to him incomprehensible, but he understood all too well the thoroughly cruel ways in which the concepts operated.

"Mr. Scott," he said quietly. "Sensor readings. Are the Romulan shields still holding?"

McCoy exploded. "You're not going to try it again!"

His outburst was ignored. "Mr. Scott?"

"They're losing power, Mr. Spock. Shields at thirty-six percent capacity and dropping. Damned if I know what stopped our phasers from neutralizing it. Something boosted its output at the last minute."

"Can you get life form readings?"

"Aye. Four humans... and thirty Romulans."

Only thirty. That was promising. The usual Romulan flagship complement was approximately fifty. The Thrysn had sustained  
heavy losses in its unexplained spiral to Korus' surface.

"Meet me in the transporter room, Mr. Scott," Spock ordered. "We may yet, if I recall the expression correctly, 'snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.'"

Ayn helped Scotty re-route the transporter circuits in order to comply with Spock's plan. When they'd finished, the device was set for wide scan pick-up anywhere aboard the flagship -- but it would eliminate all non-human physiologies from the beam.

"I'm nae sure this'll work," Scott admitted. "We canna get an accurate reading through what's left of their screens."

"Precisely the reason for the wide scan, Mr. Scott," Spock said. "We have no time to waste. Energize."

Scott slowly pressed the energizing levers forward. A high-pitched whine filled the chamber at once, swelled, and shortly became four insubstantial pillars of light on the dais. As quickly as they'd appeared they began to fade again.

"Be damn't," Scott swore. "I shoulda known..."

"What is it, Mr. Scott?"

"Romulan transporter interferin' wi' the signal. The bastards are onto us already."

"We can increase power," Ayn said. "Their systems are failing -- their output should be weaker.

Scott paused for a split second, then nodded and threw a switch. The figures in the chamber reappeared, shimmering unsteadily amid the sickening wail of competing beams.

"That's doin' it," Scott said triumphantly. "They're cutting off their transporter unit."

Ayn barely restrained the urge to cheer--until she noticed something odd on the sensor indicator screen. "Mr. Scott... Sir,  
they haven't cut it off! They're--"

Four sparkling forms in the chamber suddenly became eight, then twelve, then fourteen.

"Switch to C circuit," Scott shouted. "Send 'em back!"

"I can't! It's too late!"

Spock joined Ayn at the controls, tried and failed with her to reverse the mass beaming. Their efforts were too little too late.  
The four humans solidified in the transporter chamber surrounded by ten armed Romulans.

"Spock!" Kirk started forward only to find himself immediately restrained. "What in God's name are you doing?"

The Vulcan stepped forward, meeting the Romulan commander who stepped off the platform first. Oddly, the anger had vanished from Tal's dark features. He looked pleased now, very much the triumphant warrior.

"A valiant effort," he said to Spock. "Foolhardy, but ingenious." He looked at Scott and Ayn, smiling faintly. "Order the first of  
your evacuation parties down to the surface. Immediately."

Hesitant, Scott glanced to Spock and then to Kirk.

"Only the captain may give such an order aboard this vessel," Spock explained.

Tal reddened. _"I_ am the captain of this vessel now."

When Scott still refused to comply, one of the centurions leveled a Romulan phaser at Ayn, his intention more than clear. Kirk spoke up.

"Scotty," he said hoarsely. "Give the order."

Tal's centurions marched their prisoners off the chamber dais.

"When your evacuation is complete, I will transport the remainder of my crew aboard," he said to Spock. "You have been a worthy adversary, Vulcan. My compliments.

He raised a hand in imitation of the Vulcan salute, but Spock disdained to return the honor. "I am your captive, Commander," he  
said calmly, shaking his head. "Not your ally."

Anger crept back into Tal's eyes. "Take Kirk to the bridge," he ordered the centurions. "And the Vulcan to the brig. He was  
sentenced to death for the commission of treason against the Empire many years ago. His execution is long overdue."

Phasers readied, the Romulan forces left the transporter room to carry out their final triumph -- taking possession of the  
Federation Starship Enterprise.

Scott and Ayn were taken to the engineering section by a surly Romulan who demanded to be shown the warp drive system.

"You will explain its function -- in detail," he ordered Scott.

The chief engineer had a gleam in his eye. "By all means," he said facetiously. "The warp drive, as I'm sure ye know, was discovered by Anzelf von Gilch in nineteen hundred and twelve. It runs on matter-antimatter fusion/implosion, focused via shoggam crystals through a prismatic--"

The Romulan cut him off, angered that this human's jest had almost taken him in. "There is no such crystal."

"Aye, of course there is. Ayn, lass. Show the gentleman our shoggam crystals?

Ayn paused, momentarily confused by Scott's peculiar instruction and knowing look. Shoggam. She knew that name. He'd been a crewman in engineering... An Oreilian. The one whose error in placing the dilithium crystals had almost caused a...

So that's what Scotty was getting at. A brilliant idea -- if they could pull it off.

She pressed two controls: one to elevate the receptacle housing the primary crystal, and another which imperceptibly tilted it out of its proper position. While Scott expounded a plethora of BS on the history and function of shoggam crystals, Ayn prayed silently that their desperate ruse would work.

When he had tired of Lt. Commander Scott's rather weird explanations, their centurion guard escorted them to the bridge,  
where three of his companions held Kirk and the bridge crew at bay.

The evacuations were proceeding as ordered, and Tal had gone to oversee them. Ayn and Scott were brought onto a sullenly quiet bridge only moments before the red crystal at the helm began flashing a warning.

"Orbit decaying," Sulu reported, puzzled.

Kirk gave Scotty a questioning glance and received a sly smile in response. "Compensate, Mr. Sulu."

The centurion-in-charge objected. "You will do nothing, he told Sulu. "Until we verify."

"By that time this ship could hit atmosphere," Kirk said. "I don't have time for your verification." He turned back to Sulu.  
"Compensate."

Two of the Romulans moved in on the helm too late to prevent Sulu from touching the compensator. The moment he did, the Enterprise lurched violently starboard and threw them all to the deck. It provided the opportune means for the humans to overwhelm and overpower their captors while Sulu struggled to right their dilithium-induced spiral. Kirk, meanwhile, with a Romulan phaser now in hand, regained his chair.

"Thank you, Scotty," he breathed.

  
Scott picked himself up, helping Ayn to her feet as well. "Thank the lass," he said. "We could nae ha' rigged it without her help."

"We're not home free yet," Sulu noted. "There are six other Romulans aboard. Including Tal."

The turbolift doors swished open to admit Ensign Chekov and two security men. They herded two Romulan centurions in front of them.

"Captain, these persons were apprehended in auxiliary control," the young Russian reported jubilantly.

Kirk smiled. "Good work, Mr. Chekov."

"Sickbay to bridge," McCoy's voice said over the intercom. "I have a centurion down here who backed into a sedative hypo by  
'accident.' You want him?"

"I'll have security pick him up, Bones." That left three still aboard -- one of them Tal. "Mr. Chekov, Mr. Scott -- escort these  
gentlemen to deck twelve and secure them there. Lt. Uhura, recall our evacuation parties, on the double. And Sulu -- give me an intership sensor reading. I want to know where Tal and the other two are.

The intercom's whistle cut across his speech as the last of the prisoners and their security escort vanished into the turbolift.  
The voice was Tal's.

"We are not so easily defeated, Kirk," he said coldly, and the small screen over Uhura's station came to life, resolving into the  
image of Tal and the two remaining armed centurions. They were in the ship's brig -- outside a security cell that still held First  
Officer Spock. "As you see, Captain, I retain a certain bargaining power."

Kirk allowed no hint of his concern for Spock to show in his voice.

"We have what is idiomatically known as a standoff, Commander. I have custody of seven of your men. You have one of mine. An unequal basis on which to bargain."

Tal curled his lip in disgust. "The human talent for deceit is even greater than I'd been led to believe. This Vulcan traitor is  
under sentence of execution. If you wish to commute that sentence, you will return control of the vessel to my centurions. Twenty minutes, Kirk. Twenty of your minutes to decide..."

"I need more time than that." But Kirk's words were spoken to a blank screen.

Ayn had slipped into the turbolift in the middle of Kirk and Tal's conversation and had heard the remainder of it over the intercom. There was, she knew, an access crawlway over the brig section where the power circuitry was housed. She should by rights have asked Kirk's permission to do this... but there was very little time...

Commander Tal had lowered the cell's force field long enough to enter the cubicle with his Vulcan prisoner. With the field  
restored, his two centurions stood guard outside.

"You cannot succeed in taking this ship," Spock told him frankly.

"I have already taken it."

"And lost it, Commander. To continue in this effort now is pointless. And illogical."

"Don't talk of your logic to me, Vulcan! You, who dishonored my commander, you who betrayed the sacred honor of Romulus! This matter is not concerned with logic, but with honor."

"I think not. It appears more likely that your 'honor' is in fact revenge."

An infuriated Tal moved to strike him, and in that moment the entire brig section was plunged into darkness.

Spock's left hand met and blocked Tal's blow; his right grasped the Romulan Commander's shoulder and squeezed.

Outside in the corridor, Ayn had kicked an access plate open and dropped into the darkness below. The phaser she held fired blindly into the shadows, illuminating the Romulan centurions as it hit and stunned them. With twin groans, they collapsed on top of each other just as Ayn's power interruption corrected itself -- overridden by the ship's computer. The lights hummed back to life -- as did the cell's blue force field. Putting away her phaser, Ayn went to turn it off.

Minutes later, when Kirk and several crewmen stormed the brig, it was to find Ayn and Spock outside a cell that now contained two sleeping centurions and a stonily silent Romulan commander who contemplatively massaged one shoulder.

"I'll still have to put you on report," Kirk said after Ayn had given him her explanation. "But I'm in your debt all the same.  
Next time, just... explain it to me first, all right?"

Nervously, Ayn nodded.

"We are left with a far more serious problem, Captain," Spock said.

"After all that they have seen and learned here, we cannot allow these Romulan officers to return home."

Kirk gave the Vulcan an anguished look. "No, I suppose we can't."

"That is as it should be," Tal spoke up from behind the glowing force field. "I prefer death to disgrace."

"No one is going to die, Commander. The Federation has... colonies." Kirk hated the archaic term 'prison camp,' yet that, in  
essence, was what the Federation's rehab colonies were.

"I will not accept that!" Tal shouted. "You must grant us the honor of death, Kirk. I demand it. I _beg_ it of you!"

The captain of the Enterprise faced his adversary through the blue energy field and slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry. We'll send  
word to Romulus about the rest of your crew on Korus. A Federation scout will pick them up and see that they're delivered home."

He walked away, and Tal was left to plead with the Vulcan science officer he had very nearly executed.

"I cannot live without honor, Vulcan. And this... this human female has taken it from me."

"All the more reason not to go home, Commander," Spock replied. "There are times when honor is little more than a clever snare. In those times, it is best set aside."

Ayn followed Kirk out of the brig section, leaving Spock and Tal alone to discuss the peculiar vagaries of Romulan honor. For Tal, she knew, the ultimate disgrace in this entire matter was not so much his capture, but the fact that it had been facilitated by a 'mere' human female. She couldn't help wondering what would become of the Romulans in a Federation penal colony. For each of them, death would have been preferable. Yet their cruelty deserved a less 'honorable' punishment. They had, after all, murdered one Enterprise crewman in cold blood.

The Romulans, Ayn decided, would probably get precisely what they deserved.

But she was sorry, all the same, for Tal...  


THE END 

See all of my fanfic and links to my pro fiction at <http://jeangraham.20m.com.>


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